Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the German Shepherd Dog Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

04-14-2014 10:23 PM

VTGirlT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blanketback

At least she's trying. Look on the bright side: you crossed the road and she was able to keep her dog under threshold and gobbling treats. That's a huge step right there, if she was resorting to bear hugs not long ago, lol!

This is true! Got to give the lady credit! I hope it works for her dog!

04-14-2014 10:20 PM

VTGirlT

I think essentially, whether doing it correct or not, she is probably doing counter conditioning.

However, i was trained different. It's not just about jamming treats in their mouth at a high value. (for my dog its fear aggression to strangers) But i wait till she looks at the "scary" object and than she gets a treat. So it can happen every other second that she gets a treat, but the treat delivery has a purpose, not just used as a distraction. Also ensuring she stays under her threshold is the biggest importance. By the sounds of the dog's level of aggression, walking next to another dog is a bit fast.. Also incorporating "happy talk" so that you can use that tone of voice when you see the "bad" thing, and it can also lower the humans stress level using happy talk, you can even sing familiar tunes such as happy birthday, which will in turn lower the dogs stress in general since you are not as stressed.

It is however a bit scary that she would want to practice on a PUP! Sheesh! I would only ask if the other dog were stable with other dogs.

You did the right thing. I would have said heck to no! Your pup need only positive interactions with dog at this point, you can't chance it even if it were to mean to help another dog out. There are other dogs to help out that dog aggressive dog.

04-14-2014 08:22 PM

anitram

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lark

OP - I agree with you that your job is to protect your puppy. But I'm a little curious - how did the dog react today? Or weren't you close enough to tell? Did the treats seem to be working?

Didn't get closer than 30 yards or so, but the dog was scarfing down those treats like she hadn't eaten in a year so it seems to have some effect.

When I did eventually cross the street, the boxer turned and stared at us, may have given a low growl but no bark.

04-14-2014 01:37 PM

Lucy Dog

Always look out for your dog's well being before anyone else's dog, especially when you're dealing with an impressionable puppy. If you don't feel comfortable, don't risk it. Go with your gut. It's not your responsibility to rehabilitate someone else's dog. It's nice to help if you can, but not at the risk of your dog's temperament and training.

As for what she's doing with her dog, it seems like a sound plan. As long as she's marking and rewarding the correct behavior like a calm sit and not letting the dog lunge and then treating/rewarding that. Seems like a good plan for them as long as the dog is acting appropriately.

04-14-2014 01:36 PM

Shade

Delgado is dog reactive, I've had great success working with him on it but I would never ever ask a person with a puppy to be my test subject. Puppies are easily impressionable and why would I chance a bad encounter for the pup's sake just so that I can test something out on my dog. Personally I would have done the same as the OP and told the other owner that you want your pup to only have good meetings with other dogs

If I wanted to test Delgado I would set up controlled 'surprise' meetings with people I knew had calm easy going dogs, not just Joe Smith off the street that I have no idea what their dog might do. Always set your dog up to succeed, I don't believe in deliberately setting them up to fail

04-14-2014 01:35 PM

Blanketback

At least she's trying. Look on the bright side: you crossed the road and she was able to keep her dog under threshold and gobbling treats. That's a huge step right there, if she was resorting to bear hugs not long ago, lol!

04-14-2014 01:35 PM

Lark

OP - I agree with you that your job is to protect your puppy. But I'm a little curious - how did the dog react today? Or weren't you close enough to tell? Did the treats seem to be working?

04-14-2014 01:34 PM

Liesje

Not only were you correct in protecting your puppy, but she's got to understand that "flooding" a dog (continuously exposing to whatever overstimulates the dog) in this type of situation is NOT going to work. She should be thankful that you might be present *across the street*. If you move too close and her dog reacts again, that will just un-do all her work. She needs to be careful to work her dog below the threshold (not reacting) for a looooong time and take her time with this. The "look at that" game and treats can be very effective but timing and working at the right distance are key. I also agree with Twyla that she'd be better off doing this work around mature dogs that are proven very neutral and not a puppy that is probably going to want to interact.

04-14-2014 01:33 PM

GSKnight

Sorry... i missed the part in your original post where you said she asked you to stay on her side of the street.

04-14-2014 01:28 PM

anitram

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSKnight

Look at it another way... the OP said that the owner would often turn around to avoid the reaction, and the OP would walk on the other side of the street.

So, why can't the OP be the one to change direction and/or still cross the street???

I have no issue with crossing the street, and I've been doing so. But I'm talking about more situations where I see them on the other corner, so like 150 or so yards away. I don't typically bother crossing the street immediately, but keep walking until there are no cars or people on bikes, for example.

I was actually in the process of crossing the street when she yelled out and asked if I would mind staying on her side.

This thread has more than 10 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.